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A mini housing boom is underway in northeast Missouri, thanks in part to the work of one small-town electric cooperative.
Between 2008 and 2024, there were no new homes built in the service area of 6,500-meter Tri-County Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Lancaster.
Many of these communities had properties demolished during that stretch with little or no redevelopment.
But that trend started to change on a chilly day last March, when a ceremonial groundbreaking was held in Lancaster for a three-bedroom house with a two-car attached garage.
A crowd of advocates and officials were on hand, including TCEC General Manager Michael Scheib, Northeast Missouri Electric Power Cooperative's Allie Bennett, Associated Electric Cooperative's Lynne Shea and the Northeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission's Derek Weber.
The house, now occupied by a family of three, is the first of several “missing middle" homes scheduled to go on the market over the next few months under Housing Enhancement Northeast, a residential development revolving loan fund program administered by the planning commission.
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Scheib and TCEC got the ball rolling in 2023 when the co-op worked with a contractor to conduct a study on housing needs in three counties. The assessment showed a gap of 420 “missing middle" homes, an industry term for single-family houses for young professionals that aren't big or fancy but also aren't low-end rentals or manufactured homes.
At about the same time, the planning commission released figures showing that 65% of homes in Kirksville, just outside the TCEC footprint, were built before 1960 with median values of $90,000, while 25% were built after 2008 with a median price of $308,000.
Missing were houses priced between $187,000 and $280,000.
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“The 10% in between, that is where most people are looking for homes, and that's where no homes are available," says Weber, the commission's executive director. “I could jump on Zillow and search in the 180- to 250- price range in the six counties we serve and find maybe four or five houses."
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Workforce housing is a foundation for long-term rural development, advocates say.
“Without housing, it's hard to convince people to take jobs or stay long term," says Bennett, manager of economic development and member services at Northeast Power in Palmyra. “Communities can't grow without housing. Businesses hesitate to expand or relocate to areas where their workforce can't find somewhere to live."
Weber says the co-ops, especially Scheib's early advocacy, gave him the “call to action" to move ahead with his longtime plan of a revolving loan fund for housing, which now stands at about $2 million.
Funds come from a $240,000, five-year, zero-interest loan from TCEC and Northeast Power, the result of matching funds leveraged from Associated Electric's Power4Progress program. Proceeds from the commission's investment in an apartment complex are also included in the fund. But the lion's share comes from a $1 million earmark from the Missouri legislature, which Weber says was influenced by the co-ops' contribution.
“I give the co-ops credit for getting this started," he says.
Eventually, the commission wants six houses under construction each year—one house in each of the counties it serves, some on co-op lines. Right now, four similar homes are being built, and one is under contract.
TCEC has earned kudos for its efforts, including the National Rural Economic Development Association's Organization 2024 Excellence Award for improving members' quality of life. And later this year, Scheib, Bennett and Weber will all receive “Champion of Missouri" honors from Sen. Eric Schmitt during the state fair in Sedalia.
While TCEC will serve several of the homes, infusions of more homeowners across the community will benefit everyone, Scheib says.
“We're always looking for ways to better the community, better things for our membership and our local businesses that we serve," he says. “Even if we don't serve them, the members who live in the houses that we serve work in some of those businesses."
